Foldable vehicle-top.



A. L. DALLAIRE. FOLDABLE VEHICLE TOP. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 9, 1907.

Patented Jan. 18,1910.

m TED was- PATENT OFFICE.-

' ALFORD L. DALLAiRE, F cnIcAoo, ILLINOIS, AssIGNon T0 STUDEBAKER BROTHERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or sou-1m BEND, INDIANA, A coRPoR 'rIoN .OF

INDIANA.

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFonn L..DAI .LAIRE, -'a citizenjofthe United States, residing at. Chicago, in the county of Cook and State 5 of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Foldable Vehicle- Tops; of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to 'foldable tops for automobiles, carriages, and other vehicles employing such .tops; and the invention s more particularly designed for and appli- A cable to vehicle bodies of that class having, in addition. to the main seat of the body 'which is-covered and protectedby the foldable top, a smaller seat extending rearwardly-tliereof,=designed to accommodate a servant or extra passenger. Heretofore, so far as I am aware, the ,foldable tops employed on this style-of vehicle body have been objectionable in a measnre,n1 that the top, when ,iolded, extended so far behind the back of the main seat as to interfere'with the comfort or .convenience of the person occupyingthe rear seat; and themain object of the present invention, in so far as 1t relates to vehicle bodies of this class, is to provide 'a foldablc top of sufiicient height and length to afford ample protection to the occupants of the .main seat, and at the same time be capable of folding back to a position upon or closely behind the upper edge of said main seat and 'out of. the way of the occupant of the rear seat. lVhile the inven- 35. tionis particularly useful ,in connection with vehicle bodies of this class, yetit may convcniently and advantageously be employed as a. neat and compact construction upon covered vehicle bodies having but a single seat. p r

The invention will be readily understood when considered in connection with the accompanying" drawings, :in which, 7 Figure 1 is'a s'ideelevation'al view of an top applied thereto. "Fig. 2 ."iS a similar view with the .front portion of the body omitted and-illustrating ithe -folded position of the top, the cover, however, being omitted for the sake of gre'tter'clearness. Figs. 3 and ,4 are fragmentary views in side elevation and cross-sectionofa-slight modification in the manner and means of hinging the lower ends of the-intermediate or inclined bows of the toppem itting a, some-.

Specification of Letters Zatent. Patented Jan, Applicationfiled August 9, 1907. Serial No, 387,872. I

automobile body-with my .improvcd foldable FOLDABLE VEHICLE TOP.

main seat (3 is a suitably bent metal frame i strip 9 provided at intervals with buttons 10. as usual, for the attachment of the sides of the cover, which latter is shown in Fig. 1 at 11. The forward ends of the strip 9 are curved upwardly as shown at S). and receive the horizontal pivot bolts' .12 on which the main front and rear inelinedbows 13 and 14 of the top are co-axially pivoted. Pivoted at 15 to 'thefm'ward edge of the front how 13 is a forwardly projecting horizontal how 16, the side members of which are jointed as shown at 1 by means of a con'1m(m stopjoint. which permits the two sections 16 and Hi" to be folded and unfolded through an angle of approximately 180 degrees. but limits the unfolding thereof to a straight position in which they are in alinement, after the fashion of an ordinar carpentefs rule. Similarly pivoted at 18 to the rear edge "of the rear inclined how 14 is a rearwardly pro jecting horizontal how 19, the sidemembers of which are'similarl hinged at 20 by a joint similar in all respects to the joint .17 of the forwardly projecting how 16, and permitting the hinged sections 19 and 19"t0 fold upon each other through .an angle of approximately 180 degrees, lnltlimiting the .unfolding' mo\'ement to a position in which the sections 19 and 19 are substantially straight or in longitudinal alinement. In practice. the hinged sections of the side members of boththe front. and rear bows 16 and 19. are capable of extension slightly past a straight-line through the hinge. as is usual in this-class of joints, to maintain the joint normally against collapse when the hinged sections are opened out. The cover 11 is secured at its frontend to the transverse member of the forward how 16 and supports the latter when unfolded, and is likewise secured to the rearwardly extending bow 19' at the may be desirable to secure somewhat greater point where it passes over tlie latter; the

the height of that portion of the inclined how 13 between the pivot 15 and its upper end, and the same is true of the section 19" of the rear bow 19 relatively to the corresponding parts with which it cooperates; so that when the sides of the bows 16 and 1!) E are folded as represented in Fig. 2, the? transverse outer members of the bows lie directly against the transverse outer members of the intermediate inclined bows 13 and 14, which latter, being of equal radii, fold into transverse alinement with each other, as shown in Fig. 2. The radial distance from the pivot 12 to the upper ends of the bows .13 and 14 is slightly greater than the distance from the pivot 12 to the rear transverse edge of the back of the main seat, so that all four parts fold snugly down behind the latter, as shown in Fig. 2; the material of the cover collapsing after the fashion of a bellows betiveen the bows, as is usual in this type of folding top. Where it 5 the combined lengths of the section 16" and 1 l t l E height of the to relatively to the depth of i the main seat, t is may be readily secured by the meansillustrated in Figs. 3 and'4, i wherein it will be seen that the frame strip t) has a comparativel straight forward slotted extension 9*,inw ich is slidablymounted I the .lower end of a goose-neck 21 to the up- 5 per end of which the intermediate inclined 7 bows 13 and 14 are pivoted. Then the top i is raised the goose-neck 21 is normal] y at the inner end of the frame strip; but when the top is to be folded, the wing-nuts 22 are loosened, and the goosemeck slid forwardly to the forward end of the slot and there i clamped, which thereby carries the pivot point 12 suiliciently forward to secure the described folding of the bows close against the back of the main seat and out of the way of the occupant of the rear seat.

I claim 1. The combination with a vehicle body having a seat thereon, of single supporting members mounted on the two sides of said seat, respectively, a pair of oppositely inclined hows the sides whereof are co-axially pivoted at their lower ends to said supporting members and are of a length substantially equal to the distance between their pivots and the rear upper margin of said seat, forwardly and rearwardly extending horizontal bows having jointed sides pivo red at their inner ends to said inclined bows, respectively, and a top cover, substantially as described.

2. The (:OIl'lblIHltlOIl with a vehicle body having a seat thereon, of single. supporting members mounted on the 'two sides of said seat, respectively, a pair of oppositely inclined bows the sides whereof are co-axially pivoted at their lower ends to said supporting members and are of a length substantially equal to the-distance between their pivots and'the rear upper margin of said seat, forwardly and rearwardly extending horizontal bows having jointed sides pivot'ed at their inner ends to said inclined bows, respectively, said sides being jointed at points therein such as to cause the transverse members of said parts to lie, when the top is folded. substantially flush with the transverse members of said inclined bows, and a top cover, substantially as described. 

